6 Steps For Silly Season Success

November 27, 2012, 11:35 amKochie's Business BuildersYahoo!7

MYOB's 6 top tips for small business success this Christmas...

“The weeks leading up to Christmas may be demanding for shoppers, but they’re even more so for business owners and their staff. Now is the perfect time to plan for this busy period to increase the likelihood of a successful and happy selling season,” MYOB CEO Tim Reed reminds us.

So what does a silly season success plan look like?

First of all, see what worked last year, Reed advises.

“A great place to start is to review your operational performance and financials from last Christmas. Some key questions to consider are: did you have enough staff to manage the extra foot traffic? What products and promotions did well?”

“Reviewing what worked and what didn’t will help you prepare for this festive season. If you don’t have the information around these aspects from last year, consider collecting them this year.”

And if you don’t have an online setup and sales strategy, it definitely time to devise one.

“With more than 80% of consumers researching online prior to making a purchase, consider selling your products and services online and include that sales channel in all marketing activity,” Reed says.

“It’s no surprise our research shows SMEs with a website were 53% more likely to see revenue rise last financial year.”

Then, armed with a review of what you think will work and an online presence, it’s time to tell EVERYONE about it!

A good marketing campaign could really set you up this year, especially as only 19% of SMEs are looking to increase their marketing and advertising activities this year.

“Those who do [ramp up advertising] could see a spike in customers that flows through to sales.” Reed says.

To make sure you cover all bases in your pre-Christmas preparations, MYOB's put together 6 tips for silly season success...

1. Review and learn from last year’s activities

Take a look at the performance of the last festive season to pinpoint the positive and negative aspects. How well did each of your products, services and promotions perform? Other operational aspects? Did you cope with the boost to customer numbers?

Think about what you can do this year to improve results by way of things like social media, new promotions, working a niche target group or changing the layout of your shop.

2. Get online

The internet has added a whole new dimension to shopping, with a vast majority of consumers shopping online on their smartphone, tablet or laptop.

Establish a simple website or revamp your existing one as it’s a powerful tool to help increase awareness and sales. An easy-to-use website builder such as KBB-In-A-Box or MYOB Atlas helps you create an attractive website with its own .com.au domain name and email in 15 minutes.

Hiring extra staff can certainly help with the extra volume of customers in the lead up to Christmas. The tax-free threshold increase to $18,200 should encourage more part time workers to return to the workforce as it becomes more financially viable, so SMEs might be able to draw from a larger group of skilled candidates.

5. Prepare your team to up the client service ante

Get your team ready via briefings on all store policies, service and complaint procedures, promotional stock and other important business aspects. Conduct training sessions to prepare them for the extra volume of customer and supplier interactions.

They will be under more pressure than usual but this also applies to shoppers so a smile and a positive, helpful attitude will make the busy period more pleasant for all.

6. Keep your business house in order

There will likely be an abundance of gift wrapping paper, boxes and other packaging in your business as well as more paperwork. Get organised to reduce admin time and stress levels.

Up to date accounting software, such as MYOB LiveAccounts or AccountRight Live, acts like a virtual assistant by automating many aspects of this. It also gives you a comprehensive snapshot of your business at any time to help you better control things like your cashflow, payroll, inventory and invoices.